After The Fear by Rosanne Rivers. Young Adult Dystopian.

In very few words, Rosanne Rivers conjures up a new dystopian world which is peopled by vivid characters. It is a dystopian world where debts have to be repaid; a world where city states are isolated and enclosed. It is a world governed by a few powerful Shepherds who control the lives of the powerless masses. Here, every move a person makes is traced, and some people strive for the power to achieve some level of control over their own lives and exert a hold over the lives of others, sometimes without considering the consequences.
In this world lives a teenaged girl called Sola, and at the beginning, her tribulations are barely a breath away. Too soon, Sola learns what it is like to undergo trials, Demonstrations, to live to fight and worse still, to fight to survive. Rosanne Rivers’ writing evokes empathy with Sola’s pain and dilemma, makes the reader fall a little bit in love with Dylan, worry for Alixis following the revelation, to see Coral for what she is; and keep guessing about what Shepherd Fines is really like.
There are definitely editing issues, but they don’t detract from the story too much, except for in one or two places where a suspected missing word creates a little confusion. But these are nothing that cannot be fixed in a reprint, and nothing major to worry about.
There is lots of scope for a second book; lots of story left for Rosanne Rivers to explore. Does Shepherd Fines come good? Is he true to his word to Alixis? If not, what happens to her? What happens to Dylan? And what happens to Sola? Who does she become? Exactly what happened to Coral?
I’m now waiting patiently for a sequel which will provide the answers…

Great News!

After The Fear by Rosanne Rivers

 

My friend Rosanne Rivers is now a published author! If you’re looking for something new, or are into Dystopian worlds, then take a look at After The Fear, and please leave a review if you can, wherever you can. Thanks!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/After-Fear-Young-Adult-Dystopian/dp/1938750837/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358686844&sr=1-16

Unblocking Writer’s Block

A cup of tea, anyone?

If you’re stuck for something to write, or something to write about, why not try this prompt?

Take a small notebook and go and sit in a café. Write about anything which attracts your attention. For example, why not try people watching? What do the other people in the café look like? What are they wearing? What do they order? How do they eat/drink? What can you smell – the aroma of the coffee you’re drinking? Does your tea look like dishwater? Is anyone watching you – if so, are they staring at you or watching you when they think you can’t see them? Don’t leave until you’ve filled at least one page of your notebook.

A fellow writer called Joseph W. Richardson gave me this tip. I’ve written several pages each time Ive gone out for a cup of tea. If it doesn’t work for you, then at least you managed to get out of the house and enjoyed a drink!

 

After The Fear by Rosanne Rivers

After The Fear by Rosanne Rivers

 

If you’re looking for something to read and you’re into Dystopian fantasy, check out this book by Rosanne Rivers – she’s an amazing new writer!  It’s due to be published by Immortal Publishing Incorporated. You can sign up to be notified of when it becomes available using this link: http://www.immortalinkpublishing.com/notify.php?book=16

Here’s a teaser to tantalise you:

You have not attended a Demonstration this month.
In Sola’s city, everyone obeys the rules. Stay away from the trigger cameras and regularly update your Debtbook, and you just might survive. But having to watch the way criminals are dealt with—murdered by Demonstrators in the Stadium—is a law Sola tries to avoid. When a charming Demonstrator kisses her at a party, however, she’s thrust into the Stadium and forced into the very role she despises.
Armed with only natural resourcefulness and a caring nature, Sola narrowly survives her first bout. Her small success means she’s whisked off to a training camp, where she discovers a world beyond the trigger cameras and monitoring—a world where falling in love with a killer doesn’t seem so terrible.
Yet life as a Demonstrator has no peace. Sola must train her way through twenty-five more Demonstrations before she can return home to her father. At the end of each battle, only one survivor remains.
Sola could face anyone in the Stadium . . . even a loved one.

Intrigued? You won’t have to wait long – it’s coming in December 2012! It’s on my reading list – why not put it on yours?

Writing. Or Freedom from Deadlines

Picture courtesy Free Images

Freedom from deadlines isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Having finished my uni work and handed in my assignments, I now feel as though I have no purpose. It’s not just for now. I always feel like this after hand-ins. So, I’ve been searching for things to do. I know I have a novel to work on, but I need a little break first before commiting myself to another large piece of writing.

What did I find? Writing competitions/submissions. Not necessarily to enter, but to give me ideas of what I might like to write. So that I might choose a subject and get writing again.

The current choices:

Mslexia – New Writing: Memoir; or The Affair. For more information http://www.mslexia.co.uk/info/submit.php

The Ecologist/Arvon – Non-fiction competition about nature. For more information http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1560376/nature_writing_contest_2013.html?

Picture courtesy: http://www.freeimages.co.uk

 

West of No East by Bobby Nayyar

Image courtesy of Bobby Nayyar at Limehouse Books

West of No East by Bobby Nayyar packs into a small book many of the issues facing people in multicultural, contemporary Britain today. It tells of difficult relationships, be they marital, friendships, work or parental. Difficult economic times increase pressures on already fragile relationships. Clashing cultures add extra heat into the mix.

Disappointments abound as Tarsem, an only child, fails to reach his potential not only in his own eyes but those of his wife, his parents and his in-laws. His parents dreamt of more: more children, more from Tarsem, more for their retirement, more grandchildren. Tarsem’s wife Anita’s parents want better for their beloved youngest daughter. Tarsem wants better work, not to be stuck in a call centre to supplement another job that fails to recognise his potential.

Into this world, throw in: marches, protests against library closures, home governments, uprisings in Egypt and feared protests in the Middle East. David Cameron states that multiculturalism has failed. Parents who are not what they seem to be momentarily play second fiddle to appearance of a beautiful stranger.

Amidst all this, there is a yearning for home. An emotion everyone can relate to. The hope that things will improve is something else that connects us. And beautiful words like: “It was a reassuring warmth that reminded me that as distant as we often were, we were never completely alone” keep us reading on to find more in a story which shows the importance of language, love and home in our lives.

Bobby Nayyar, West of No East (London: Glasshouse Books, 2011). (Please Note: Glasshouse Books is now Limehouse Books.)

 

Black Country to Red Earth – Video Of Me Reading A Story

Last week, I attended a public lecture ‘Black Country to Red Earth’ given by Candi Miller in the International Centre, University of Wolverhampton on Thursday 19th April 2012.

It was a great evening of sharing information about The San Peoples of the Kalahari Desert, who are considered to be the oldest race in the world. Some of their storytellers were filmed telling stories, including Beesa Boo who told the story of The Spider Man. Some of these stories were told English, others in their native languages, very poetic and full of clicks and the laughter of the storytellers and their audiences. Some clips showed children sitting mesmerised, listening to elderly storytellers. One thing was certain: even if you couldn’t understand the language(s) being spoken, the body language was universal: gestures, laughter, cheeky smiles and delighted eyes told many stories to those who were open to listening to them.

Candi Miller also spoke about a research project From Kalahari Campfire to Cybertale which she is involved in.

After the lecture, members of the audience were invited to share stories from their own lives or backgrounds. A Dutch student told stories of Christmases and St. Nicklaus Days and Santa Claus in Holland, and how different Christmas was in England. A Bulgarian student told of the month of March being spent trying to appease a mishcvious grandmother figure whose mood affected the weather, and of red and white bracelets woven to bring the wearers luck.

I read a story from the Mahabharata. Take a look at me reading ’Savitri and Satyavan’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7gfFYjNgg4&feature=youtu.be

Writing Exercise

If you’re stuck for something to write about, take a look around you. Describe what is in your favourite room in the place where you live. What’s there? Is everything where it should be? If not, why not? Describe the colours, the textures, the sounds around you. What do these remind you of? Did you choose them yourself, or are they a glimpse into someone else’s taste? Why? How do these things make you feel, and why? What is your favourite thing in the room? Is it an item, a colour, a texture, a material, a smell, a piece of furniture or a piece of jewellery you keep in that room? Or is it the view from the window? Why is it so special to you? What memories are connected with it?

Out of all these things, choose something to write about. For example, about the memories connected to your favourite item from that room. If you choose to try this exercise, try writing as many words as you like, until the piece feels ‘finished’ to you. Then shake it up a little and try writing it in a different tense, or changing the point of view.

The following is something I wrote a few years ago for a writing exercise, for which had to describe my bedroom in 250 words or less.

A Journey Around My Bedroom

Walking into my bedroom, I am confronted by what once was my dressing table. It is covered with jewellery, makeup and other products which have been ousted from their homes. My chest of drawers is in a similar state of disarray.

I look at the curtain rail I tried to fix this morning. The track was changed last week and there’s now a gap every time I close the curtains, which is driving me insane.

Near the window are two chests with wicker drawers. One bears the weight of another storage box. The other heaves under the burden of yet more displaced items: a world map, trousers that no longer fit, photographs and framed pictures. Instead of providing homes for everything on my dressing table, the drawers have become mini filing cabinets for things that belong downstairs.

Stacked up against the chests are more pictures which were once dotted around the whole house, but are now waiting to be shown off and loved again.

One bedroom wall is hugged by a new built-in wardrobe which stands proud as it hides a myriad of paraphernalia from view. Beyond this, hiding in a corner, a new ensuite shower area squeaks clean and sparkles whenever it is kissed by light.

My bed is like a beacon, a haven for love and serenity in the chaos of a house that has been renovated for almost a year and is not as finished as I was told it would be.

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If you found this a helpful tool in getting you writing again, why not check out more ideas in the archives on my site? Also, take a look at writer Rosanne Moulding’s ideas for writing: http://rosannemoulding.wordpress.com/

Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies by Salman Rushdie: Review

‘Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies’ by Salman Rushdie is the first short story in a collection of ten. It tells of one of the British Consulate’s Tuesday women, Miss Rehana. On the last Tuesday of the month, young women travel long distances to try to gain entry into England and be with their fiancés.

The lala at the gates asserts his authority and power over them, even though he is only guarding the Consulate entrance. Most of them are accompanied by one or more male relatives, but Miss Rehana is alone because she is an orphan.

Seeing her on her own, a grey-haired man called Muhammad Ali comes over to Miss Rehana, ostensibly wanting to share his wisdom to help her so that she will get her papers for travel to England. She appears to take his advice, but we feel there is something she knows that the reader and Muhammad Ali are not privy to. After she leaves the Consulate,  we learn what happened to Miss Rehana.

If you’re new to Salman Rushdie, this is a great story to begin with. Sentences which appear simple are rich and revealing. Rushdie hints to the reader, but does not reveal anything until the end of the story. There is a twist in this tale about transformation of character and traditional notions of power, and it is well worth reading the story to find out what these are.

‘Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies’ in Salman Rushdie, East, West (London: Vintage, 1995).

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff: Book Review

This review is the result of a writing exercise: write a book review in one hundred words or less.

Boston-born Meg Rosoff‘s multi-award winning debut novel has wide appeal. Wise-cracking fifteen year old Manhattan girl, Daisy comes to visit her English country cousins.

Through Daisy’s eyes, Rosoff explores many voyages of discovery: of self, sexual love, new ways of life, and of learning to cope with the unknown. We see a magical, idyllic age, suddenly become tarnished by harsh and brutal times when war breaks out. Rosoff keeps us page-turning with minimal effort. Her descriptions like ‘I made jam sandwiches for breakfast and they tasted hoepful’ are delicious!

If you liked Mark Haddon‘s Curious Incident… you’ll like this!